"It feels good," Green said. "Workouts were a nice way to start out and now you're back doing something you love to do. We're getting back into that grind."

The 13th overall pick in the 2009 Draft is coming off a solid season in which he was a Texas League All-Star and earned a trip to the All-Star Futures Game in Arizona. Green batted .291 with nine homers, 33 doubles and 62 RBIs at Double-A Midland before the A's sent him to the AFL for the second year in a row.

Drafted as a shortstop, the 24-year-old University of Southern California product moved to center field midway through the season. That played a big role in his return to Arizona, where the Desert Dogs are managed by former big league outfielder Todd Steverson.

"That's pretty much the reason I'm playing," Green said. "It's kind of the reason I'm here, to get more reps and to work with [Steverson]."

Phoenix and Mesa traded leadoff homers in the first -- Anthony Gose (Blue Jays) and Robbie Grossman (Pirates) both went deep for the second straight day, knotting the game at 1-1. The Solar Sox took their only lead an inning later as Michael Blanke (White Sox) singled home Junior Lake (Cubs).

The Desert Dogs scored five times in the sixth and four in the seventh, aided by homers from Green, Roberto Perez (Indians) and Cody Puckett (Reds). Lake went deep in the eighth to cap the scoring for the Solar Sox.

"The past couple days, the wind has been blowing out a bit," Green said. "Some would have gone out even without the wind. Gose's first-inning, first-pitch homer -- that was gone either way."

Phoenix starter Tyson Ross (A's) yielded two runs on four hits over two innings before Yankees farmhand Dan Burawa allowed a run over 1 2/3 frames to record the win.

Reliever Nevin Griffith (White Sox) surrendered five runs and recorded only two outs in the sixth to take the loss. Solar Sox starter Terry Doyle (White Sox) left with the lead after giving up one run over 3 2/3 innings.

As for the rest of the Fall League season, Green said he is approaching his second stint with Phoenix as a learning opportunity.

"I hoped I wasn't going to be coming back, but now that I am, I'm going to learn as much as I can," he said. "Hopefully, everything goes well next year."

David Heck is a contributor to MLB.com. Danny Wild contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.